Chapter 5: Aftermath

There was pain, everywhere, and nothing else.

His feet were in pain, his stomach was in pain, his chest was, his shoulder, every part of his body.

Pain, pain, pain.

Somehow he managed to gasp, and his body convulsed. It was agonizing so much that he became afraid of doing next breath. He was drowning in pain.

He could barely see. His vision was dark, darker with each passing second.

He should move but he couldn't even stand. Then he'll crawl, bit by bit out of the water. He has to find his Young Master. Where is he? There, sleeping while relying on a tree. Snoring peacefully, happy merry child.

Shan extended his hand and checked boy's pulse. Everything seemed all right. With a great effort, he forced himself into a cross-legged position and started gathering Qi.

He had to gather his strength and take Xin out of the forest.

Was it even possible? What if he will collapse at some point? Have any dangerous beasts been attracted by sounds of the fighting?

Countless problems appeared in his mind, he was about to stand up when…

Cold, something cold and wet touched his cheek.

He turned his head. A beautiful young girl with wavy blue hair was looking at him with a calming smile.

"Aaagh!"

Shan screamed; somehow, he was holding two knives in his hands. There were his kitchen knives. How did they get here? No matter, without hesitation he inserted one in his stomach. A new wave of pain washed over him, the girl was no more. Instead, there was a bloody grotesque brain weakly supporting itself with its trembling tentacles. The second knife went right into the wound on its "body".

Nevertheless, it was too late; a ripple of terrible metal energy entered Shan's head.

His own consciousness resisted with all might, and then came the heat from the back of his head. Two forces collided.

Bam! Something exploded inside of his mind. A light shiver ran through Shan's body.

Time stopped. That terrible sensation, the curse that had been tormenting him for more than seven years has vanished.

At last, he felt free. His exhausted body started to lose consciousness. Before he fell into darkness a single thought had reverberated through Shan's entire mind:

"My name is… Wei Shan."

…

…

…

Wei Xin has been somewhere for some time now. A strange fog was enveloping all sides of the world. The sky could not be seen, and neither anything beyond five steps. He wandered forth, out of desperation, but with each passing second, the fog was only becoming thicker.

There was grass under his feet, pale, dark, and moist. An early morning kind of grass. A little circle of it was all he could see. Gradually, it began to shrink.

"Ah!"

He gasped, his leg froze in the air. Nothingness appeared before him. He made a step back, and the familiar willow was there to rely on. He looked at the abyss below, and then slowly lifted his head. The silhouettes of sun and moon were high in the sky, behind the shroud of white fog and black clouds.

"Young Master! Young Master, where are you!"

He was fascinated with the sky in front of him, but suddenly, he heard a voice coming from behind. Or many voices, for the echo was too loud and prolonged to distinguish.

"Shan!"

Wei Xin ran back and there he saw his servant, standing in the sea of grass. A barely visible mansion was behind him.

"Young master, I thought I had lost you."

"What a foggy day, please, don't wander so early in the morning. And don't go to that cliff, please. How many times have I told you that it is dangerous?"

"Shan…"

Shan was visibly nervous. He was worried about him very much and that made Xin feel guilty.

"I won't, I promise." He whispered.

"Good, now let's go back home."

"Okay."

And so they walked. At some point, Shan asked:

"Young master, your birthday is coming soon, how are you going to celebrate?"

"I…"

Wei Xin was about to sound all his wishes, even the most one obvious, but sacred one, that he wanted to become a Martial Artist, however suddenly he heard something from behind. The wind, but not only. Something more.

He tried to listen and that was Shan's voice. As if the echo of his scream was coming back with a breeze. Quiet at first, but louder and louder and then...

"Young Master…"

"Wake up!"

"Ah."

Wei Xin opened his eyes, and immediately the light of the afternoon sun, sour like a lemon, made him blink. Blink twice, for one time wasn't enough for his still drowsy mind to react and look aside. He lowered his face and saw a shore, the thin sandy line between the green of the forest and the purple of the lake.

Yes, purple, but also red. As if two paints had been spilled in the lake, and now were unwilling to merge, refusing each other.

Wei Xin felt anxiety rising from within. He looked around and saw a ravaged brain lying in a purple pond. Something black was protruding from it and before the brain was...

"Shan!" He shouted and quickly got up. He stepped closer and when he got a good view, he almost fell down. His body went cold. Still, he maintained himself. Shan was there, lying on the grass, his face pale and his body riddled with countless bloody holes. A large knife was inserted into his belly. His breath was heavy, almost too loud. Showing just what kind of pain he was in right now.

It took Xin several seconds to comprehend what had happened. All of this was his fault. Xin wanted to cry, to apologize, and to never ever go against Shan's orders again.

However, it wasn't the time for that.

Maybe he was a kid, naive and dreamy, irresponsible and rash. It was expected of someone who grew up reading martial arts manuals. However, he wasn't stupid. He knew that panicking now would be disastrous.

He had to save Shan first and to blame himself later.

The first hurdle was the knife, the deepest of Shan's wounds. Xin remembered the content of some manual he had read, "When you are pierced with a sword, or a spear, or an arrow, it is better to wait until you have enough Qi to close the wound or something to heal with nearby. Until then, it would be best to refrain from taking the object out."

Shan was obviously incapable of using Qi right now, as for a cure… They might have something like that at home. But he needed to bring Shan there first.

Xin tried to lift him but quickly gave up. Shan was much bigger than he was. Dragging him was not an option; in his current state Shan wouldn't endure something like that.

After a dozen of seconds, Wei Xin was getting desperate as all of a sudden he saw a violet radiance with the corner of his eye.

Something purple was shining in the water, something attractive, it was calling him, closer, come here. And he stepped closer and looked: there was a black sabre in the water. Square hilt, shining edge. Unknowingly, Wei Xin extended his hand. Then he retreated in fear. He was much more wary about strange callings and anything that could influence mind now.

However, he didn't dare to make a second step back. He looked at Shan, his pain, his heavy breath. There was no choice.

Wei Xin closed his eyes, but he then opened them wide and gasped the hilt in one move.

Violet radiance, like some shade of evening sun, had blinded him. His eyes, however, weren't in pain. The light was strong but gentle.

He felt a surge of energy, his body becomes light, now he was… Strong?

It was hard to believe in what was happening. He lifted his hand and shockingly the sabre was also lifted. It was lighter than a knife. Where were his knives by the way? Anyway, isn't the time now. He resited his excitement and sprinted back to Shan.

He could easily lift him now, though finding a position to hold him was still a bit of a problem. Then he started running through the forest, trees and grass, while praying that his memory would not fail him.

What he couldn't see were beasts lurking in the shadows, staring at him with their red eyes, with their mouths wet. There were many of them, many kinds, some weak and some strong. But once they saw the sabre, all of them were retreating without a thought. Purple radiance, a loud shriek. No, not all of them were retreating: some were freezing in fear.

Soon Xin finally saw the Yifei. Glad and relieved he speed up even more.

After that, it only wasn't far from the home. The familiar courtyard was an unusually pleasing sight, but there was no time to appreciate it. He ran into the house, to the left, and into Shan's room.

The place was as depressing as ever. Dark and gloomy. Xin felt a kind of alienation at first. Like he was doing something wrong, it wasn't his room after all, but soon the feeling was suppressed. He placed Shan on the…

No bed, Okay.

Wei Xin went out and into his room. He carefully placed Shan on the bed, and then dashed to the kitchen. There he started opening drawers one by one, slamming them loudly. In one of them, he found a bottle with red-something inside, which Shan has been using to heal his wounds since ever.

Like that time when he cut his finger while trying the move with a…

No, no time for reminiscence. Time to heal.

First, he pulled out the knife. The blood gushed out immediately and he almost lost his footing. Only luck managed to keep him steady.

Then he started placing ointment on the wounds. His spirit went cold then.

He expected Shan to convulse because of the dreadfully painful cure, but he as if couldn't feel anything. Shan's condition was really bad.

Xin started working faster. Then he went to the middle room, a place full of sunlight and books, and started browsing them attentive but not slowly.

It was a long day.

He fed Shan a blood-restoring root and burned some heart-calming grass, because of which the room became a bit smoggy, and many thing things more.

At some point, Wei Xin noticed that the light from the window became reddish. He was shocked to find out that it was evening already, and even more so that he still has been holding the sabre. It was in his hand all the time. Shaking his head he carefully placed it on the floor.

Next moment a wave of tiredness washed him from inside. As if it was a payment for the great strength he had been displaying earlier, he couldn't even move now.

Slowly, his consciousness faded.

…

…

…

The night was bright, full of stars. The moon was full and clear on an unclouded sky. The kid was peacefully snoring on the floor. Two piercing eyes were staring at him full of killing intent.